it takes more than one year or one term, or even one president. it takes more than one party. it certainly can't happen if you're willing to write off half the nation before you even take office. >> brown: with the economy dominating the campaign, and with 12 million americans still unemployed, it was clear the punching and counter-punching over jobs will only grow more intense. and there's still one more monthly employment report coming-- on november 2, four days before election day. to help break down the jobs numbers, i am joined by neil irwin, economics reporter at the "washington post." and diane swonk, chief economist at mesirow financial. diane, start with you, was this big drop in the unemployment number a surprise or what's going on? >> well, certainly it was a surprise. we can see allots of volatility in this number from a month-to-month basis. we saw the big increase in employment. we saw big decrease in unemployment. but over time both this report and the other reports that's the payroll survey tend to converge. and i think that's important to remember. it's also i